The five-member delegation, led by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and attend a dinner hosted by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu during the visit, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry. . The American Institute in Taiwan said the US politicians will discuss “US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, climate change and other important issues of mutual concern”. Quick guide
China-Taiwan relations
projection A short story The Chinese government claims that Taiwan is a province of China and has not ruled out taking it by force. At the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the defeated Kuomintang government fled to the island of Taiwan, establishing the Republic of China (ROC) government in exile. On the mainland the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the People’s Republic of China. From the 1970s onwards many nations began to change their official ties from the ROC to Beijing and today fewer than 15 world governments recognize the ROC (Taiwan) as a country. The CCP never ruled Taiwan and since the end of the civil war Taiwan has enjoyed de facto independence. Since the end of decades of martial law in the 1980s, Taiwan has also developed into a vibrant democracy with free elections and media. But unification is a key goal of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, has said Taiwan is already a sovereign country that does not need to declare independence, but Beijing views Taiwan’s democratically elected government as separatist. Under Xi’s rule, aggression toward Taiwan has increased, and analysts believe the threat of invasion is at its highest level in decades. In recent years, the People’s Liberation Army has sent hundreds of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense reconnaissance zone as part of greatly increased “gray zone” activities, which are close to combat but do not meet the threshold of war. Taiwan is working to modernize its military and is buying large amounts of military equipment and weapons from the US in hopes that it can prevent Xi and the CCP from making a move. Helen Davidson Photo: Tingshu Wang/X06979 Thanks for your response. Taiwan welcomed the delegation’s visit as another sign of warm ties between Taipei and Washington. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its sincere welcome [to the delegation]”, the ministry says in a statement. “As China continues to escalate tensions in the region, the US Congress has once again organized a heavy delegation to visit Taiwan, showing a friendship unafraid of China’s threats and intimidation and underscoring strong US support for Taiwan ». The other members of the delegation are Democrats John Garamendi and Alan Lowenthal of California and Don Beyer of Virginia, and Republican Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa, according to the institute. China’s embassy in Washington said Sunday that “members of the US Congress must act in accordance with the US government’s one-China policy” and argued that the congressman’s latest visit “proves once again that the US does not want to see stability in the Taiwan Straits, and spares no effort to provoke confrontation between the two sides and interfere in China’s internal affairs.” China regards Taiwan as its own territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary. For a week after Pelosi’s visit this month, he sent warships, missiles and aircraft into the waters and skies around the island. Pelosi was the highest-ranking elected US official to visit Taiwan in decades. Taiwan accused China of using her visit as an excuse to start exercises that would allow it to rehearse for an invasion. It conducted its own simulated defense exercises against a Chinese invasion of its main island. China withdrew its drills but said it would continue to patrol the Taiwan Strait. In its daily briefing, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Sunday it had spotted 22 Chinese planes and six ships operating around the strait. Of those, 11 planes crossed the median line, an unofficial demarcation line between Taiwan and China that Beijing does not recognize. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am. BST Taiwan’s presidential office said the team would meet with Tsai on Monday morning. “Especially at a time when China is raising tensions in the Taiwan Straits and in the area with military exercises, Markey’s delegation head to visit Taiwan once again shows the steadfast support of the United States Congress to Taiwan,” it said. Markey’s office said lawmakers in Taiwan “will reaffirm the United States’ support for Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, US-China joint communiqués and six assurances, and will encourage stability and peace in the Straits Taiwan”. The group will meet “with elected leaders and members of the private sector to discuss shared interests, including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic cooperation, including investment in semiconductors,” Markey’s office said. Taiwan’s foreign ministry released photos of four lawmakers meeting at Songshan Airport in central Taipei, having arrived on a US Air Force transport plane, while Markey arrived at Taoyuan International Airport. Last week China pledged zero tolerance for “separatist activities” in Taiwan and reaffirmed its threat to take control of the self-ruled island by force if provoked. “We are ready to create a huge space for peaceful reunification, but we will leave no room for separatist activities in any form,” China’s Taiwan affairs office said in a white paper on Wednesday. He said China “will not refrain from using force and we reserve the option to take all necessary measures.” However, he added: “We will only be forced to take drastic measures to respond to the provocation of separatist elements or external forces if they ever cross our red lines.” China last issued a White Paper on Taiwan in 2000. AFP and Reuters contributed to this report
